Burning Heart // CL16

Fifty Three

Charles POV

God, I have no idea what changed but somehow, despite the teething, Ruby slept through the night. Alessia and I both looked at each other with confusion when we woke up at 9 am to the sound of her melodic giggling but I quickly realised there was relief on Alessia's face when she looked down at Ruby. The teething issues of the last 48 hours seemed to be behind us if her reaction was anything to go by.

I still didn't really know what was going on most of the time - I just followed Alessia's lead.

"Morning," I mumble as I stand up to join the pair of them, smiling as Alessia quickly passes Ruby over with a smile on her face, the mood having lifted significantly in the room as we both silently walk towards the kitchen of the suite. I try not to let my eyes fall down to her ass but the way she was tugging on her t-shirt to cover herself was actually drawing my attention back to it despite her best efforts.

It was a good sight... she was still wearing the tight black t-shirt and it was matching with the simple black boxer shorts she must have been wearing underneath her skirt yesterday. With her hair tied up in a ponytail, just her fringe now loose... well, it was the definition of natural beauty.

"Coffee is always a need," Alessia mumbles as she uses the professional coffee machine that I had requested for the suite and I nod as I give her shoulder a quick squeeze and move towards my room with Ruby still in my arms. She was definitely awake and she definitely needed her nappy changed and after Alessia's call to me at the track yesterday, I had moved all the baby stuff into my room from hers before I woke her up from where she slept on the sofa.

I was glad we hadn't had that talk yesterday because I was really hoping that a couple of good days could make a difference for us. She already seemed in a better mood with sleep so between that and staying in yesterday, I was really hoping I'd bought at least enough time for her to stay for Ruby's birthday and maybe afterwards as well.

Once Ruby was changed I went back out to the kitchen to see Alessia on one of the stools at the breakfast bar with two mugs in front of her but she wasn't sitting and drinking it, instead she had her head down in her arms and I could tell from how slow her breathing was that she had fallen back asleep. I chuckle lightly as I look at Ruby to see her totally unaware of how stressed both Alessia and I have been.

As though she wasn't the cause. Or at least part of the cause.

"You're an amazing little miracle but when you cry... you are killing us," I whisper to Ruby as I place her into her high chair away from Alessia so that she can continue to sleep as I quickly pick up my coffee and pull up a seat across from Ruby as she looks at me with smiles and no idea. "Okay... what now? Food? Milk? What do you need?" I ask her, hoping that her ever expanding vocabulary might allow for me to handle her for the next time.

"Phone papa," she says and the words, as they always do, break my heart as I relent and sigh. I stare at her for a few moments. When she repeats the request and I take my phone out and pass it to her, grinning when her little hands wrap around it, hoping maybe I might be able to explain this to her again and this time she will understand.

"I am papa, Bee... this is my phone, I don't know what else to tell you," I say as I watch her carefully, her grubby little hands fiddle with my phone and she giggles. I relent after a moment and reach over to the phone to put it on video mode, pressing record before just watching her hold it, leaning it against the edge of the tray so it could see her better. "Will I ever find out why you say this?" I ask her quietly, checking over my shoulder that Alessia is still asleep. Once confident that she is, I take a deep breath and turn back to Bee, smiling as I take a sip of coffee and turn back to Ruby who is looking between me and the phone. I let the breath out slowly, trying to find the calm I'd been missing at the track the last couple of days in this moment, hoping I might be able to hold onto it for long enough to get clarity in the car later today.